Process of laying renewable-head railway-rails.



R. B. DAVIS. PROCESS OF LAYING RENEWABLE HEAD RAILWAY RAILS. APPLICATION FILED MAY 23, 1908.

926, 1 O5. Patented June 29, 1909.

ulllllllllllllll lll REESE B. DAVIS, OF IIAR FORD, CONNECTICUT.

PROCESS OF LAYING RENEWABLE-HEAD RAILWAY-RAILS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 29, 1909.

Application filed May 23, 1908. Serial No. 434,517.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, REESE B. DAVIS, acitizen of the United States, residing at llart ford, county of Hartford, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Process of Laying Renewable-Head RailwayRails, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to two-part or renewable head railway rails adapted for general use and especially adapted for street railways where the rails are laid in pave ment, and my invention has for its object to provide a method or process of laying the rails which shall be relatively inexpensive and will greatly reduce the cost of maintenance as it will permit the upper section or head of the rail to be renewed withoutdisturbing the pavement upon the inner side of the rail.

lVith these and other objects in view I have devised the novel process of laying two-part rails which I will now describe, referring to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and using reference characters to indicate the several parts.

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the two parts of the rail in position and one of the dies by which they are locked together; Fig. 2 a plan View corresponding therewith, showing both of the dies in operative position, the jaws by which the dies are carried being omitted; and Fig. 3 is a sectional perspective on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows, this view showing an acetylene brazing torch by which the clencher lip of the head is heated in advance of the die so that it may be readily closed in place, this heat being localized in that it is applied only to the clencher lip.

10 denotes the lower or girder section of my novel rail and 11 the head or upper section thereof. In practice I place approximately three-fourths of the weight of metal in the lower section and approximately onefourth of the weight of metal in the upper section, for example, seventy-two per cent. of the weight in the lower section and twentyeight per cent. in the upper section. The lower section comprises a base 12, a web 13 and a top 14. The top comprises a flange 15 and a table 16. The special contigm'ation of the flange is of course not of the essence of the invention. In the present instance I have shown the top contour of the flange as a conveX curve running into a downwardly oblique line extending to the base of the table which is raised above the lower portion of the flange. The top of the table is approximately tlat. The side toward the llange is provided with an undercut groove 17 and the opposite or outer side of the table comprises a downwardly and inwardly extending incline indicated by 18. The head rests upon the table and is provided on its inner side with a downwardly extending lug 19 having on its inner face a rib 20 corresponding in configuration with groove 17. Upon the outer side of the head is a downwardly extending cleucher lip 21 which before attaclnnent lies at a more or less obtuse angle to the plane of the table so as to permit the head to be placed in position on the lower section with the rib in engagement with the groove. lletween the inner side of the head and the tlange is a groove 22 which receives the flanges of car wheels. The inner edge of the head is shown as rounded as at 23 and the outer edge beveled downward as at 2-1, which reduces the weight of the head by removing superlluous metal and meets the line of the top of the pavement.

denotes a cushion strip which is laid between the table and the head. This cushion is simply a strip of soft metal or alloy, as a strip of lead or an alloy of lead, and lies bctween the wearing portions of the sections. The function of the cushion strip is to prevent oxidation of the sections and to prevent frictional wear of the two sections which would otherwise be caused by the rolling action of car wheels passing over the head. The lower section is made so heavy as to be practically permanent, the wear being practically all upon the head or upper section which is readily renewable. An additional and vitally important function of the cashion strip, however, is to greatly increase the wear of the head.

In laying the rails by my novel process, the rails comprising the lower section are laid in the ordinary way and then brought up to true surface and line, the rails of the upper section or head being placed alongside with the joints alternating. head rails may be beveled transversely as at 26, so that the ends lap past each other thus making practically a continuous rail. The top of the lower section is then cleaned in any suitable manner as by means of wire brushes, and then the cushion strip 25 of soft metal or alloy is laid along the top of the The ends of the i lower section covering the portions subjected 1 by means of steam, pneumatic or hydraulic to wear. The rails of the head are then placed in position on the table with rib 20 in engagement with groove 17 or rather forc ing the cushion strip into said groove. It has already been explained that the clencher lip before attachment lies at a more or less obtuse angle to the plane of the table, which permits the placing of the head on the table with the rib in engagement with the groove. Having placed the head in position with the clencher lip lying contiguous to incline 18, heat is applied to the clencher lip in any suitable manner as by means of an acetylene brazing torch, which is indicated by 27. After the clencher lip has been softened by the heat, it is forced into engagement with incline 18 on the outer side of the table by pressure applied in any suitable manner, as by means of dies 28 and 29 which are carried by heavy jaws, (not shown as specifically they form no portion of the present invention). The dies are of course suitably shaped to conform to the configuration of the head when the head is locked in place. The dies may be made twenty inches, more or less, in length and the outer die, indicated by-29, is tapered on its inner face for approximately half its length in order to bend the clencher lip to place gradually, the dies finishing ten inches, more or less, of the rail at each closing operation. By thus locally heating the clencher lip and progressively applying the heat and bending or closing said lip down, itis possible to successfully unite a long head to the lower section without so heating the head as would result in melting the cushion strip. Said strip, being of lead or some similar soft material, is of course, fusible at a temperature considerably lower than what would be required if the entire head were heated at one operation sufficiently to enable the clencher lip to be softened. The localizing of the heat and the progressive application thereof and of the bending operation, leaves the cushion strip practically unchanged as to its capability of performing its functions. Power may be applied to the jaws to force the dies to the closing position in any suitable manner as power. The power applied in practice is sufficient so that not only will the clencher lip be forced against the incline but simul taneously therewith lug 19 will be drawn tightly against the inner side of the table and rib 20 will force the cushion strip tightly into groove 17, thereby locking the head to the lower section and forming practically a continuous rail.

V'v'hen renewal of the head becomes necessary it is only required to remove the pavement on the outer side of the rail leaving the pavement on the inner side of the rail undisturbed. Having removed the pavement, the clencher lip is softened by the application of an acetylene brazing torch or in any suitable manner and then the clencher lip is bent outward by means of a suitable tool and the head turned over inward disengaging rib 20 from groove 17 and permitting the removal of the old head and a new one to be placed in position and locked to the lower section in the manner already described either with or without a new cushion strip.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

The herein described process of laying renewable head railway rails, which consists in layin and truing up a lower section in the ordinary way, laying a cushion strip of soft metal thereon, said metal being fusible at a temperature less than that required to soften the metal of the rail, placing a head pro vided with a depending lug and a clencher lip over the cushion strip, softening the clencher lip by means of heat and then closing the clencher lip to place and simultaneously drawing the lug upon the head into engagement with the opposite side of the table, the softening of the lip by heat and the closing of it being performed locally and progressively.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

REESE B. DAVIS.

Witnesses Bonner H. Bonn, WILLIAM C. SMITH. 

